Darchula District Hospital ailing

Darchula, July 2 : The Darchula District Hospital is in dire straits for paucity of budget. This situation has arisen because of the downsized budget allotted to it by the centre this year and the local levels not providing the required funds.

The bodies concerned have been accused of remaining mum even when a sensitive sector as the public health institution is facing a debilitating financial crunch.

"There is shortage of surgical items while working in the lab. There is no budget for purchasing the required items and equipments," lamented Dr Rabi Ranjan Shah, chief of the hospital.

Hospital chief Shah said that the District Hospital has not received any substantial cooperation from the local level to the central level since mid-August last year. According to him, the Rs 2.5 million budget that the District Public Health Office received this year was used to buy medicines which were distributed to various health institutions in the district.

He said upon reporting the financial crisis facing the district hospital to the government of Province No 7, it has informed them that it would only provide Rs 300 thousand and that also only for purchasing the equipment.

The around Rs 1.3 million that the hospital used to get annually from the centre for providing delivery service to the pregnant women has also not been given this year. The hospital has yet to pay Rs 2 million to the local businessmen in lieu of purchasing medicines. This amount is outstanding from last year.

The income of the hospital has also reduced by more than half the estimated income this year.

The Mahakali Municipality has stated that it would provide the budget to the hospital only after it is converted into a municipal hospital. The situation has become worse after other local levels in the district have also failed to provide their budgetary contribution to the local health institutions.